Having an elite season in college football is one thing.
Being an elite program? Not great, but elite? That’s something different altogether.
Lifting a team to the top of the charts is something that can happen every once in a while. Keeping a team atop the polls, year after year, requires Herculean effort. In one of my previous lives as a freelance writer, I often compared my day-to-day life to being the guy at the circus who spins the plates atop the poles. You let one plate wobble, and that grabs your attention, which can allow something else to get off-kilter, which makes something else tipsy, and eventually it all comes crashing down. Maintaining a top-notch college football program is similar–you have to keep on top of everything, at the same time, forever. Which is why it takes a certain type of type-A sociopath, like Nick Saban, to keep it going as long as Alabama has kept it running.
As I see it now, there are only two teams that qualify as genuine college football elites: Alabama and Georgia. Alabama is a no-brainer, considering they’ve won five of the last 11 national titles. And I’m not completely comfortable giving Georgia the same designation—after all, they’ve won just one national championship in the last forty years. But they did win it all just a season ago, and since 2019, UGA has gone a combined 37-5. UGA hasn’t finished a season ranked lower than 7th in the AP poll since 2016.
Georgia is actually a great example of a team making that final leap, from great to elite. After Vince Dooley led the Dawgs to a title in ‘80s, he was followed by former Bulldog Ray Goff, who went 46-34-1. Goff was replaced by former Marshall legend Jim Donnan, who went 40-19 on the big stage. Donnan was followed by Mark Richt, who went 145-51 over 15 years. Georgia under Richt was very good—they only had two seasons where they lost more than four games—but they just couldn’t get past Alabama. Enter Kirby Smart, who raised the bar and set expectations (and results) higher than ever before.
How did Alabama and Georgia make the jump from great to elite? Well, if it was so easy, everyone would do it. But clearly, recruiting plays a part. It costs money to be elite. I know we’ll hear complaining from people who are upset that these are supposed to be colleges and not football factories, but get over it. The two schools that spend the most on recruiting? UGA and Alabama. Funny how it lines up.
In that same link above, the article mentions you don’t have to spend a ton to have recruiting success, and references Cincinnati, who made the final four a season ago. To which I would respond that sure, you can make a final four from time to time. But this season Cincy is already 2-1 and already out of the AP Top 25. That’s not sustained success. That’s not elite.
Alabama and Georgia also each have a hefty infrastructure, which provides a solid foundation even in those down years. A few years ago, on the ESPN show “Rolling With The Tide,” we saw behind the scenes at Alabama, and during Saban’s executive staff meetings, there were about two dozen people jammed in a small room, making sure every i was dotted and every t was crossed. Which is why Saban can take on a reclamation project like a Steve Sarkisian, or other recently fired coaches, and allow them to rehabilitate their reputation while Alabama benefits from their accumulated wisdom.
Other than Bama and UGA, the only other school which I think probably belongs in the current “elite” conversation is Clemson, who won titles in 2016 and 2018. They haven’t been in the title mix the last few seasons, however, and finished a relatively pedestrian 10-3 a season ago. Despite starting 3-0 this season, they haven’t seemed overly impressive, and being on the outside of the SEC/Big Ten axis of power makes Clemson, at the very least, feel as though they’re a small step below the biggest powerhouses.
Who lives just below the elite? I’d start with Ohio State. They won titles in 2002 and 2014, but haven’t put a ring on it since Urban Meyer departed. But they consistently bring in big recruiting classes and have managed to hang around that top tier. To me, one big win puts them in that top tier, and perhaps new defensive coordinator Jim Knowles can get the Buckeyes D to a new level.
The other team that intrigues me is Oklahoma. New head coach Brent Venables brings an elite imprimatur with him from Clemson, where he was on staff forever. Oklahoma clearly has the resources to invest, and the passionate fan base that will applaud the investment. They’ve been consistently very good–they’ve lost two games a year since 2015–but Lincoln Riley couldn’t get them any further than that.
Who else could ascend? Teams like LSU (who won it all in 07 and 19) and Florida (06, 08) used to be in the elite tier, but for various reasons have fallen out, and I don’t think they’re really that close to getting back in. Michigan might be next from the Big 10, if they can get their offense firing. Could Mike Norvell turn the corner in Tallahassee? And maybe USC out West, once Riley gets settled there and starts his recruiting magic? (Although Riley could not get Oklahoma over the hump so…)
Like I said, going from great to elite is easier said than done. But that doesn’t mean it can’t, or won’t, happen. It just takes effort, and organization, and work.
And above all else, money. Welcome to college football.